Doubling Up

by Ara Jensen

from West Australian Revue, 21 July 1994

A seasoned performer in his own right and to date his own producer, Stephen
Cummings has taken the new step of allowing the outside world in for his latest
record. Listen to the soon to be released Falling Swinger and there's little
doubt the hand firmly on the tiller is none other than The Church's Steve
Kilbey.

Maybe it was coincidence, fate or the fact that Cummings and Kilbey share a
September 13 birthday that they came together for the album. Kilbey also has
his own studio and was keen on what Cummings had written for what became Falling
Swinger.

When they first got together Cummings says Kilbey would sit and read Hindu
scriptures while drinking cartons of custard. It got him worried.

"The first thing Steve said to me was: 'I really like the songs - you are not
precious about them are you? I mean if something does not work you do another
one'," says Cummings. "We had the same kind of thinking like that.

"I liked being interested and enthusiastic and not too precious to try different
stuff. He has eclectic tastes and was game to try anything. At this stage of my
life so am I."

Kilbey's part in the project also meant, as producer, he could deal with all the
outside forces leaving the singer to concentrate on the task at hand. It was
also a chance to have totally fresh input for the material.

"I could sit in the backyard and read the paper and have a good talk to Steve.
When we started I found out he had the same birthday. It was a bit spooky but
the other side was that we had a good connection. He's a total music fan and
would know what I mean."

The only song on the album Cummings did not write comes from Kilbey and it is
appropriately called September 13.

The subject material of the album was a reflection of what Cummings was
interested in at the time and is executed both with a band or just acoustic
guitar. Cummings cites Falling Swinger as a specially personal record for its
exploration of inevitability and about things falling apart.

"I put them together like that. At the same time I was thinking of doing a whole
album of piano, atmosphere and an existential mood. Something like a John
Cassavetes meets blues record."

Above all Cummings says his main aim is to enjoy making music - making it under
his own terms.

"People look at records as a way to get somewhere. It's a platform to the next
step. I don't do it like that, I take it for what it is. I think of it in the
old fashioned notion of enjoying it. Each one is a little different for me."